Wednesday, 30 December 2015

Sex, Ray-Guns And No Delay is an interesting concept of an EP. The six tracks are made up of three reinterpretations of tracks from their debut EP that was released in the summer of 2014 and three new tracks. It's a record that wears its influences on its sleeve, but is clever and crafted with such care that it's a unique and endearing set of songs that will charm and disarm you without before you realise.

In a year where the word psychedelic has become the most overused word in musical vernacular, Thing come along on Christmas Day with a song that probably captures the vibe of the word, rather than the label, more than any song released all year. Carousel is the first track they've revealed, but immediately it marks them out as a band to keep a very close eye on in 2016.

Sunday, 27 December 2015

Our last gig before Christmas saw three bands that are being tipped for big things in 2016 showcase themselves at The Castle in the presence of most of Blossoms and assorted members of the Manchester music business. We witnessed three very different acts, each of which added to their burgeoning reputations.

Saturday, 26 December 2015

Milk And Cookies is an annual event where David Ford throws off all his inhibitions and embarks on a series of shows where he not only revisits his own back catalogue, but also delves into some of his favourite songs as well as leaving song selection to random pages generated from Guinness books of hit singles. What could be an absolute mess usually ends up in chaotic triumph and this year's Manchester event in aid of the Reverse Rett charity was no exception.

Saturday, 19 December 2015

On the last day of the year we reveal the five acts that we expect big things from in 2016. Of last year's top three, we were the only blog to nominate Blossoms in the Blog Sound Of 2015 poll and they finished the year headlining The Ritz and close to selling out Albert Hall. We have high hopes for these five acts that we've championed during 2015 and expect big things of in 2016.

Friday, 18 December 2015

Welcome to Even The Stars Tips For 2016. The artists and bands on this list we expect great things from in 2016. We've selected fifty bands and we'll reveal nine a day Monday to Friday with our top five selections on Saturday.

On day five we present Barron, Fairchild, Freakout Honey, Gospel, I Set The Sea On Fire, Lucky T Jackson, Misty Miller, Rory Wynne and Yak.

One of the last gigs of the year happened to also be the most singularly raw chaotic off the edge one that we've witnessed all year. Queen Kwong came to Manchester for the first, and hopefully not last (although we wouldn't blame Carré if she never came back), time and left a trail of photographers and a vexed mobile phone owner in her and her band's wake.

Thursday, 17 December 2015

Welcome to Even The Stars Tips For 2016. The artists and bands on this list we expect great things from in 2016. We've selected fifty bands and we'll reveal nine a day Monday to Friday with our top five selections on Saturday.

On day four we present Annabel Allum, Heavy On The Magic, Hey Bulldog, Louie Louie, Mayflower, Our Girl, Partisan, The Watchmakers and Zuzu

The Black Box Palace EP is Michael Kulas' first new release for almost a decade. The ex-member of James has forged a successful career as a producer and as a composer, but the Black Box Palace EP sees him return to his rock and roll roots with five new songs that show his creative juices in this field are far from drained.

Wednesday, 16 December 2015

Welcome to Even The Stars Tips For 2016. The artists and bands on this list we expect great things from in 2016. We've selected fifty bands and we'll reveal nine a day Monday to Friday with our top five selections on Saturday.

Tuesday, 15 December 2015

Welcome to Even The Stars Tips For 2016. The artists and bands on this list we expect great things from in 2016. We've selected fifty bands and we'll reveal nine a day Monday to Friday with our top five selections on Saturday.

On day two we present Bruising, Cavan Moran, Clay, Dom Major, Emma Kupa, Lock, The Levons, The Sisters and The Winachi Tribe.

Monday, 14 December 2015

John Bramwell's never-ending solo tour finally made its way to Manchester last night at the intimate surroundings of The Deaf Institute for a career-spanning set, accompanied in parts by cello, keyboards and accordian, mixed in with plenty of humorous stories and crowd interaction. Support came from Dave Fidler.

Welcome to Even The Stars Tips For 2016. The artists and bands on this list we expect great things from in 2016. We've selected fifty bands and we'll reveal nine a day Monday to Friday with our top five selections on Saturday.

On day one we present Control Of The Going, Daisy Victoria, Fickle Friends, Ist Ist, Lunar, Polo, Scarlet, Vant and Viola Beach.

Sunday, 13 December 2015

Hope For Christmas II is the second year of Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott's solidarity show at Manchester Academy 2 with proceeds to Hatfield Miners and the CALM charity which aims to try and prevent male suicide. The audience were also encouraged to bring along donations for local food banks to support them at this time of the year. Paul and Jacqui proceeded to play a two-hour set that spanned most of Paul's career with The Housemartins, The Beautiful South and the current band set-up with Jacqui.

Saturday, 12 December 2015

Twenty-one and a half years on from watching this same line-up (in reverse) in this very same building, Shed Seven and Inspiral Carpets returned to Manchester Academy for the first of two sold out nights to help the room packed of forty-somethings to return back in time to their twenties.

Friday, 11 December 2015

To promote their debut single Sleeper Our Girl have played two dates. The first was in London and a second in their home town of Brighton. Although the single was not due out for another two days, there is a big enough buzz about them that the venue is packed out on a Wednesday night. Our man in the South, Starter, went along to watch his favourite new band.

It's that time of year again when we reveal our favourite records of the year. There's been so many great albums made this year that not all of them could make the final cut and it's been a hard choice to whittle them down to just twenty. We present our four favourite albums of the year.

JJ Rosa has been building a growing following around Manchester over the past year or so gathering high-profile support from the likes of Clint Boon and Rowetta. Her new single Where Is The Mercy is released today and all proceeds from it, and the launch event at London's Cargo tonight, will be donated to The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies supporting victims of events like the recent atrocities in Paris.

As a music fan one of the joys is constant discovery, suddenly finding a band that passed you by. Before tonight I'd listened to The Twilight Sad, but never really got them, never really felt the connection. Stood next to a mate who felt the same way, they changed that in an absolutely spellbinding ninety minutes of some of the most ferocious intense and raw music I've ever witnessed.

Thursday, 10 December 2015

It's hard to believe it's ten years since The Magic Numbers debut album catapulted them from nowhere into the upper echelons of the charts with hits such as Forever Lost, Love Me Like You and Love's A Game. They've produced three fantastic albums since, but the self-titled debut is the one that sticks in most casual fans' memories. They're on tour revisiting that album in full and we caught their show at Gorilla in Manchester supported by Ren Harvieu as they rolled back the decade.

It's that time of year again when we reveal our favourite records of the year. There's been so many great albums made this year that not all of them could make the final cut and it's been a hard choice to whittle them down to just twenty. We continue our countdown today from 8 to 5.

Wednesday, 9 December 2015

It's that time of year again when we reveal our favourite records of the year. There's been so many great albums made this year that not all of them could make the final cut and it's been a hard choice to whittle them down to just twenty. We continue our countdown today from 12 to 9.

For a band with many detractors, those that say they can only sell out shows in Manchester, that they are a one-trick pony with big anthems and nothing else, those that don't like Liam Fray's hair or more recently that he took umbrage at having a smoke bomb thrown at him by someone with the IQ of a foetus, Courteeners have sold out seven nights at Manchester Apollo in the blink of an eye. We went along to the first night to witness a band that's undisputably one of the people and not of the middle class press and naysayers that look down their nose at them.

Tuesday, 8 December 2015

It's that time of year again when we reveal our favourite records of the year. There's been so many great albums made this year that not all of them could make the final cut and it's been a hard choice to whittle them down to just twenty. We continue our countdown today from 16 to 13.

Bush Hall in London on December 15th and Gorilla in Manchester on the 20th host two very special shows by David Ford. They are not your run of the mill gigs, neither are they Christmas shows, but the Milk And Cookies gigs are now an unmissable part of the year for anyone who's ever seen or heard David play. He mixes his own material with adventurous cover versions of classics that shouldn't be covered and some that get picked at random from a book of hit singles on the night. We had a chat with David about how this phenomenon came into being and the Reverse Rett charity that will be benefiting from this year's shenanigans.

The tenth and final installment of the year from the unmissable Manchester psychedelic experience, Astral Elevator featured The Jungfraus launching their second album. Liam Hart went along to catch a band he's formed a special bond with.

Monday, 7 December 2015

It's that time of year again when we reveal our favourite records of the year. There's been so many great albums made this year that not all of them could make the final cut and it's been a hard choice to whittle them down to just twenty. We start our countdown from 20 to 17 with Air Cav, Minnie Birch, White Boy and Jemima Surrender.

Bluebird Kid Clark are a band of Manchester legend. Always just under the radar they released three albums - Bottom Dollar, The Red Squirrel Revival and Live At The Weirworks - before disappearing only to be coaxed back out for a single release by Manchester label Scruff Of The Neck. Their headline set at the Deaf Institute was for the launch of a new single in a few weeks and support came from Little Mammoths and Darktown Jubilee.

So Happy is the new track from Altar Flowers, one of our tips for 2015. They've spent the year recording their debut album I.D.S.T which should see a release in April 2016 and ahead of that they're releasing a series of tracks from it as a taster, of which So Happy is the first.

Friday, 4 December 2015

Luckless's Vindication Blues album is probably our favourite discovery of the year shortly after she played Manchester at A Carefully Planned Festival. With a few days off work and friends in the city, we made the trip up to Edinburgh to see her at Henry's Cellar Bar playing tracks off the album as well as two impressive new songs.

The Bug is the second track revealed by Manchester's Heavy On The Magic ahead of their final show of the year at Gullivers on December 12th. The song contains all the elements you'd expect from Chris Haddon and his bunch of merry men, but still manages to sound raw and fresh.

Nick Gibson’s third EP Paradise is a set of five songs that deal with day to day feelings that most of us can relate to. Songs that talk of the day to day drudgery of scrimping and earning a wage to survive, feelings of loneliness, falling in love and relationship uncertainty.

Tuesday, 1 December 2015

Let's face it, Manchester would not be the same without a monthly instalment of grass roots psychedelia, infused with talents from all over the world. Astral Elevator is the quintessential Manchester psychedelic experience. In this, the ninth instalment the AE family returns to a familiar venue, Gullivers. Located right in the heart of the Northern Quarter, the beating heart of the Manchester music scene. Liam Hart caught Déjà Vega and Desert Mountain Tribe at the latest instalment.

Monday, 30 November 2015

2015 has unquestionably been The Slow Readers Club's year. Finishing off in their home town in style with a show at Gorilla that sold out weeks in advance, their second album Cavalcade finally being released to universal acclaim, the likes of Steve Lamacq and XFM picking them up and an ever-growing live following has meant they're no longer of one the city's best kept secrets but a player with the world laid out in front of them for 2016. Completing one of the best line-ups in town this year were Delamere, Barron and Etches.

To celebrate the fifth anniversary of her debut LP Disarm, She Makes War, aka Laura Kidd, has revisited five of the songs for an EP release to coincide with a short UK tour. We had a listen to see how Laura had reinterpreted songs five years and over four hundred shows on.

Us And Them is the second single from Brighton's Thyla, At a time when there's a revival of shoegaze and bands cashing in on their back catalogue, it's refreshing to hear a band that's influenced by them, but which are putting their own modern and fresh spin on it and bringing it right up to date. Us And Them feels like an effortlessly beautiful song, spinning guitars that whirl the listener round and airy drifting vocals that wash over and around us.

Hey Bulldog are creating quite a stir around Manchester at the moment. Even The Stars' latest recruit Liam Hart caught them at the Night And Day Cafe as part of This Feeling's monthly club night and they left a lasting impression on him.

Saturday, 28 November 2015

Freakout Honey have made a massive impression in Manchester in the six short months since their debut gig opened up Manchester's Psych Fest. Their live shows have brought them a burgeoning audience, drawn in with the mesmerising collision of seven musical minds in a melting pot, a volatile fusion of noise as well as moments of transcendental calm beauty and sonic exploration.

Under My Spell is the new single by Hey Bulldog and their first release of the year. They've been building themselves a fine reputation as one of the most enthralling and exciting live acts in the city and with this single they've captured the ecstatic feel of their shows.

Friday, 27 November 2015

It's one of Manchester's biggest mysteries why The Tapestry haven't been signed and headlining some of the venues they've been playing support to touring bands in like their recent show with The Enemy at The Ritz. Undeterred, they're back with a fantastic new single, the live favourite We Talk, a great video which captures the essence of the band and a new website where the single is available as a free download.

To coincide with the vinyl release of Vindication Blues we spoke to Ivy Rossiter, aka Luckless, from her ongoing European tour about life on the road for a New Zealand based artist, the art of selecting an album tracklisting and her plans for a UK December tour.